Sniff the flu away

A new nasal spray flu vaccine on the market this flu season represents the culmination of four decades of research by a University of Michigan professor.

FluMist, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration this summer and available nationwide this fall, is based on technology developed by Hunein “John” Maassab, emeritus professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health.

“I feel good. I feel in a sense that I have accomplished my life’s dream,” Maassab said when FluMist was approved. “I spent all my lifetime developing this vaccine.”

FluMist is approved for use by healthy people ages 5-49. FluMist uses a live but weakened virus, administered to help develop immunity. This weakened virus is adapted to grow at the lower temperatures of the nasal passages but not the warmer conditions of the lungs where influenza disease develops. A trivalent vaccine, like the flu shot, it includes three different strains of vaccine.

FluMist has been licensed exclusively to MedImmune, a company in which the researcher and the University have a financial interest. MedImmune Vaccines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MedImmune Inc., is manufacturing and marketing FluMist, and Wyeth Vaccines, a business unit within Wyeth, is co-marketing it.

To find out where FluMist is available near you, visit http://www.flumist.com/con_finder.asp

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